Meet Mama Esther

The past couple years I've been working on a fair trade, socially proactive business called Acholi Beads. Esther was one of our first partners in Uganda, and has done incredible things to pull her family out of poverty. This is her story:

Mama Esther - A Video Portrait from James Pearson on Vimeo.

For more info, visit http://acholibeads.com

Acholi Beads Glimpse: Stepping Stones

Acholi Beads Glimpse: Stepping Stones from James Pearson on Vimeo.

The beginning of the Acholi Beads story. Our Ugandan partners had their lives upended by Africa's longest running war. See their backbreaking work in the stone quarry, and watch their eyes light up as our partnership gives them hope for a better life. For more info visit http://acholibeads.com

Socially Proactive Business, noun

Socially Proactive Business, noun: A business whose success is directly and inextricably tied to the alleviation of a social ill, and/or the continued improvement of that societal cirumstance.

Sample Usage: As more and more customers buy jewelry from the Socially Proactive Business "Acholi Beads", the company has to buy more beads from war affected women in Uganda at fair trade prices, so more families escape poverty.

Origin: Coined right here on this blog. See here.

Acholi Beads: The New Luxury

I just posted some thoughts over at the Acholi Beads blog about The New Luxury.  A quick excerpt is below; go here for the full post.

The New Luxury acknowledges that value cannot be bought, but that we can buy based on values.  It asserts that meaning is broader than a slogan, more attractive than a photo, and deeper than any pockets.  It assures us that beauty created in a studio pales when compared to the faintest reflection of real love.  And the new luxury insists that we will not be blinded by advertisements or manipulated by marketing; we are too smart and passionate to allow our dollars to be tempted away by false promises of happiness.

Acholi Beads hearts Xavisys

Acholi Beads just launched a new website and online store. I've never built a website before, don't know how. I'm sure that given enough time on Google I could learn how to slap up a few pages and link them together, but for Acholi Beads we wanted something better. We wanted to represent the beads makers work in a way that reflects its elegance and creativity. So I called Aaron.

Aaron and I met in high school. We became good friends, coffee friends, drinking mochas late into the night, our conversations always veering towards how we would, eventually, team up to change the world. Or, you know, take it over. We were sixteen.

But I went off to school and Aaron got married. We kept in touch, but didn't have much time for world domination. Then I went to Uganda and Aaron was busy raising his son. We'd occasionally get together when I was visiting the States, but our pursuits rarely crossed each other.

So when I flew out to Phoenix a couple weeks ago to help finish up the Acholi Beads site, I was pumped. Aaron had always been a computer savant, and I had watched from the sidelines as his work progressed - from networking home PCs to play games in high school to running his own web development firm, Xavisys (pronounced: ZAVE-ih-sis). And after all those caffeine fueled conversations about world duarchy, this would be our first time working together.

I was more than pleasantly surprised, I was blown away. Xavisys, under Aaron's leadership, was great to work with on every level. The business details - pricing, invoicing, etc. - were clear and taken care of quickly. Our timeline was ambitious, but Aaron didn't blink. He set an agressive schedule and got to work.

The real pleasure was in developing the site. I had ideas, lots of ideas about how I wanted the site to look, function, feel - things that I had seen on other sites or wished that other sites had, or just flat out made up. Sometimes I felt like it must be too much to ask, but I asked, and Aaron just got more excited and found ways to make it happen. And as the site came together I'd comb through and find little details that I wanted changed, which I can imagine would get pretty annoying for a web developer - having to go back and change a bunch of stuff that was fine the first time. But again, Aaron never flinched. He would go right to it and change it until I liked it.

I came away from Phoenix and working with Xavisys with a big smile on my face. Because I knew we had a great website, because I had found an amazing business to partner with for my online endeavors, and mostly because I got to see a great friend shine. I got to see Aaron in his element, watch him flex his expertise, and he and I got to change the world together, at least a little bit. And you can rest assured, this won't be the last time.

Acholi Beads: How you can help

Here are a couple ways to get involved in Acholi Beads:

[If you want to learn more about Acholi Beads first, see the post below]

ONE, Host an Acholi Bead Bash. Invite your friends and family over, and I'll come and share the story of the Acholi people and stories of people that I met during my 2 years in Uganda. I'll tell the story of our bead makers and give people the chance to buy Acholi Beads. And I'll explain the vision of the Socially Proactive Business and tell people how they can be part of the movement. Oh, and you'll get some free jewelry out of the deal, too.

TWO, Resell Acholi Beads. Start your own Socially Proactive Business by becoming an independent Acholi Beads reseller. Our network of resellers is growing quickly because not only can you make money from Acholi Beads, but you know they are making money.

THREE, Talk It Up. We need your voice! Acholi Beads spread like wildfire when people tell their friends and families about them. Link to us from your blog or website, wear the beads to school and work, always be ready to tell the story of the bead makers.

FOUR, Be A Finder. If you find a good store to put Acholi Beads in, refer it our way. If it's a good match, we'll give you a nice finder's fee.

Let me know how you can be involved! Drop me an email: james [at] acholibeads [dot] com

An Acholi Beads Story

Let me tell you a story with a happy ending:

Kilama George is an intimidating looking Acholi man. He’s muscular, with big, angular features, and his left eye is milky and blind. He fled his home in Pader district, northern Uganda to escape the LRA’s war with the Ugandan government, and when I met him he was working with an organization in Uganda’s capital, making handicrafts, but he was having trouble supporting his family.

Despite appearances, George is terrifically friendly, kind, and gracious. Not long after we met he invited me to his home to meet his family, and I accepted. He met me at the bottom of the hill, and together we walked up the rugged dirt path that leads to the Acholi Quarters slum.

There I met his wife (his second wife; his first wife died) and his three children, I learned about the exodus thousands of Acholis had made from northern Uganda only to end up in this neglected shantytown, and I saw the rock quarry that drew them there, where men and women pound away at the receding stone for about $1 per day.

At one point I was able to offer George a job with Invisible Children. He declined, preferring to continue with his current position because he had invested so much time in it. Only a few weeks later George came to me and said, “I’ve made a huge mistake.” He told me that the organization he was with was failing and asked me for that job, but I had already filled the position and had to turn him down. That day I told him that I would look for opportunities for him.

It took almost a year, but I found one, or rather, George found one for me.

This past summer he introduced me to women in the Acholi Quarters slum – refugees like himself from the war in the north – who make beautiful beaded jewelry by hand from recycled paper. At first I didn’t believe that it came from paper. But George and the beaders showed me the whole process. They also told me about their hopes to use the beads as a tool to pull themselves out of poverty, but that the market in Uganda was very limited.

I had found my way to give George a chance to provide for his family, and not only that, but I could use everything I had learned during my two years with Invisible Children and keep investing in the recovery and prosperity of the Acholi people.

My family and I have started importing and selling these beads. We are currently employing twelve women in Acholi Quarters, who now earn a good fulltime income making beads. We are working to expand the market for the beads here in the States so that we’ll be able to employ more of the hundreds of impoverished women living in Acholi Quarters. As the business grows, we’re defining a new kind of company – we call it a Socially Proactive Business.

Oh, and George: he’s now the fulltime, onsite manager. We call him Foreman George. He just called yesterday to tell me the latest order was ready. He and his family and all the women we’re working with are so excited. When I left Uganda they threw me a huge going away party - not because I deserved it; they just needed an excuse to celebrate.

Back in the brilliant tumult

Back in America, back for Christmas and New Year's and families and get-togethers and small talk and resolutions and overeating and finding the funny in suburbia because suburbia is all we have. I'm in Phoenix for a short spell with good friends Aaron and Christen, and their son Xavier.

For those who might wonder, here's what I'm doing now:

Acholi Beads: My family and I are defining a new type of business - the compassion of the NGO merged with the strength and longevity of a business. It's the beginning of something big.
Invisible Children: Though my time in Uganda is finished for now, I may keep working for them on a new project stateside. Or I'll find other creative ways to support the incredible work they're doing.
re:tithe: I'm formulating some thoughts and many questions about the economy of community and compassion. This is going to be a serious pursuit ASAP.

For those who might wonder, here's what I'm thinking now:

So much must change, and so much is changing. Faith and action are synonymous unless you are a fatalist. Jesus' teachings and commands are much more applicable to tomorrow morning than most people will acknowledge. Unless someone takes the first step, we won't have anyone to follow. Life is about stepping into the void between the familiar and the impossible. Those who live with a reckless disregard for what is possible are the only ones who do great things. Impetuousness is the seed of greatness.

The theme of 2008 thus far is Action. It's been in the air and on the web and in my head and in the expectant, impatient rhythm of time.

So far I've been resting, recovering, readjusting, and I've been slow in getting in gear and in contact with many of you, but look for that to change soon. Happy New Year!

I'm coining it right now

I just wrote a post on Acholi Beads about what it means to be a "socially proactive business." Wondering if that term had been used much I Googled it. Only two hits, one of which is mine.

Consider it coined.

Portrait of a Bead Maker

This is the oldest bead maker working for us at Acholi Beads. She is a widow and takes care of several orphans. And, you'll notice, has a beautiful smile.

Acholi Beads

I've spent the last couple months working with my mom and older sister to set up a new, socially proactive business. We call it Acholi Beads. We've hired some displaced people from the Acholi region of northern Uganda to make beautiful beaded jewelry, which we are now selling in America!

Over the last week I've been setting up a website for Acholi Beads. I'll be slowly developing it in the coming months, but I'd love for you to take a look if you have a moment. I just changed the color scheme and added some photo ablums, for your viewing pleasure.

And by 'slowly developing it,' I mean pushing through my own e-ignorance like swimming thru molasses, then updating the site at Gulu-net speeds, which compare to internet speeds like a pogo stick compares to the Starship Enterprise.

BIG thanks go out to my good friend Aaron for his guidance and help in all of my e-dventures, and this one in particular.